3D Printers and Printing

Sean Huxter is an avid “Afiniac” who uses his H479 and H480 3D printers to create impressive toys and collector accessories, innovative household improvement pieces, and thoughtful gifts. When Quality 3D Prints Get Noticed Afiniac Sean Huxter admits that his Afinia 3D printers rarely get to rest. In his latest interview, Huxter described his most recent prints, and told us about his recent Maker Faire experience. Huxter printed a rack of Emmett’s planetary gears to give away. (Design from Thingiverse). “One day, I was in a well-known bookstore, and they had recently gotten a 3D printer there, since they are trying to enter more of the technology industry,” explains Huxter. [Read more…]

Travis Lape is the technology integrationist at Harrisburg South Middle School. Lape strongly advocates using new technology to enhance and engage students in learning. His goal is to create learning experiences that empower and equip students with necessary skills to effectively produce and consume content across multiple media platforms. Using Tech to the Fullest As the Technology Integrationist at Harrisburg South Middle School (HSMS), Lape works mainly with teachers to integrate technology into the classroom. “I team up with teachers to collaborate on lesson plans, ensuring technology is being used in a way that provides teachers and students its maximum benefits. I also brainstormed with the media specialist to create [Read more…]

Jeffry Abel is an Engineering and ECAD instructor at Century College in White Bear Lake, MN. Abel has many years of 3D printing experience under his belt, and teaches both introductory, advanced students, and community members the art of 3D design, 3D printing, and making, through courses such as “How to Make Almost Anything.” The Introduction to 3D Printing, and the Afinia 3D Printer Abel’s class printed a test block to check the accuracy of dimensions of the printer. As an Engineering and ECAD instructor, Jeff Abel is a 3D printing expert. “I began using 3D printers in 2004, to do prototyping for medical industry projects,” explains Abel. “When I [Read more…]

Afinia 3D and Australian 3D printing software company Makers Empire have partnered to sell Makers Empire products to the North American education market. Afinia 3D, a supplier of award-winning desktop 3D printers, will provide North American elementary and middle schools with Makers Empire’s 3D Printing Learning Program through its Education Resellers network. The Makers Empire 3D Printing Learning Program is comprised of easy-to-use 3D design software, curriculum-aligned lesson plans, a teacher’s portal, and online resources. John Westrum, Afinia 3D’s Vice President and Education Market Lead said, “We have a coast-to-coast presence in the US and Canadian educational markets and the Makers Empire 3D Printing Learning Program is an excellent addition [Read more…]

John Richardson and Claire Luikart are the IT Implementation Director and Special Projects Manager (respectively) at St. Joseph’s Academy in Baton Rouge, LA. Both influenced the school’s decision on which 3D printers are more beneficial for students’ learning and engagement. Doing Their Research St. Joseph’s Academy shows off their spirit with their school’s 3D printed crest. “We got our first Afinia H479 3D printer in 2011, because it was our students’ top choice. They researched 3D printers, and in the process, improved their technical understanding and communication skills,” explains Richardson. Luikart adds, “We’re glad they recommended it! We’ve been very happy with the Afinia, since the beginning. We’ve also acquired [Read more…]

Mark Willis is the Tech Ed/Pre Engineering Teacher at Margaret Bell Middle School in Waynesburg, PA. In the Beginning Willis had never attempted 3D printing before getting the Afinia 3D Printer. “When it arrived, I just started printing things, learning from trial and error. Willis’ print demonstrating the Afinia’s 5x5x5 inch build area. The printer was pretty easy to use. Afinia also sent their Vice President, John Westrum, to talk with teachers, walk them through how to use the machine, and demonstrate tricks for printing. It was a great gesture and I found it to be very helpful.“ The manual Afinia provides is also thorough. Between that, and John’s instruction, [Read more…]

Todd Hummer is a Satellite Teacher for Butler Tech, teaching a 7th grade Project Lead the Way STEAMM (science, technology, engineering, art/design, math, and medical) class. Butler Tech is a career-technical school for adults and high school students in Hamilton, Ohio. Partnering with Butler Tech “The partnership that our district has with Butler Tech is very exciting. Butler Tech offers classes to high school students, adults, and businesses wanting to educate their workforce. They also provide satellite programs giving 7th through 12th graders the opportunity to learn about engineering and the biomedical fields. Seventh graders are all encouraged to take the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Design and Modeling class, [Read more…]

Ron Smith is the Engineering and Metal Fabrication teacher at Nestucca High School in Cloverdale, OR. Complex Concepts & Making the Connection Ron Smith doesn’t shy away from teaching his students complex concepts. In his classes, he covers topics ranging from vectors and trigonometry, to statics, forces, and velocity. “Some kids in math classes think, ‘where will I ever use this?’ In my class, students apply the knowledge hands-on. They get a good grasp of the real-world applications for the concepts, and learn what engineers do on the job. They love seeing this real-world engineering, and it gets them fired up for going beyond graduating high school. Something More After [Read more…]

Corinne Okada Takara is a Bay Area artist and arts educator who creates technology-integrated art projects. Takara creates public collaborative works of art and hosts workshops at museums, libraries, classrooms and colleges. Her most recent collaborative art project, “A Serving of Shapes,” incorporated 3D-printed art. Art and Education “As an artist and educator, 3D printing sparks my interest on multiple levels. I knew I wanted to explore the exciting possibilities with 3D printing and wouldn’t move my work forward without a 3D printer; I realized this especially after attending a 3D printing expo last fall. I was already working in SketchUp, but the thought of printing my designs was exciting, [Read more…]

David Brannen is the Woodshop and Manufacturing teacher at Grants Pass High School, in Grants Pass, Oregon. Brannen has 11 years of teaching experience and over 25 years of experience in furniture and cabinetry creation. Diving Into 3D A vase printed by one of Brannen’s students. “I had absolutely no experience with 3D printers before getting one in my classroom. Honestly, I didn’t even know what it was or what it did when I found out I was receiving one through the Perkins Grant Program. I went to a mandatory workshop thinking it would just be a neat toy. By the end of the day, I was going crazy and [Read more…]

Greg Herker is the Fab Lab Program Coordinator for Gateway Technical College. He designs and coordinates the programs and is in charge of Fab Lab operations. Herker describes the Fab Lab as “A movement. A place where ideas and innovations happen.” The Lab is open to students, businesses, and the entire community. Fab Lab: The Movement “Our Fab Lab was started over a year ago. Fab Labs started in a class out of MIT by Dr. Neil Gershenfeld, the class “How to Build Almost Anything” and quickly found, that through digital fabrication, there would be a revolution allowing individuals to make all kinds of items for personal use. This sparked [Read more…]

Dr. Keith Williams is a visiting professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Virginia and a program manager for a research division of Leidos, based at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C. Leidos is a company that assists the US in combating threats to national security. Dr. Williams tweets about his UVa Introduction to Engineering class using the Twitter handle @engr1620. The Technological Cloud If you stumble upon Dr. Williams’ blog, it appears that he is opposed to using technology in the classroom, terming it a “technological cloud” hanging over education. But dig deeper and it becomes clear that his complaint is [Read more…]

Dr. Thornburg is the founder and Director of Global Operations for the Thornburg Center and an award-winning Futurist, author, and consultant. He recently authored “The Invent to Learn Guide to 3D Printing in the Classroom: Recipes for Success” with Norma Thornburg and Sara Armstrong. Learning In Style Studies have shown that students have different learning styles. Some may learn visually, some aurally, and some kinetically. Dr. Thornburg realizes that students all learn differently, also recognizing that “students learn best when they are constructors of their own knowledge.” For this reason, Dr. Thornburg has focused on creating materials that assist educators in encouraging their students to construct knowledge and “become comfortable [Read more…]

Ebelt is a pilot, participated in NASA’s Zero Gravity flight, and enjoys gliding on the weekends. Kaye Ebelt is an inspired educator and life-long learner who has a BA in Elementary Education, ME in Computer technology, and MS in Science Education. She is currently an Albert Einstein Fellow, serving as the Directorate for Engineering at the National Science Foundation. Ebelt also participated in NASA’s MicroGX and Reduced Gravity Flight in 2011. The Power of Passion It is clear from Kaye Ebelt’s background that she has a passion for learning. During her interview, we learned how she is passing that passion on to other teachers and students. As the Directorate for [Read more…]

Bonnie Roskes is the creator of 3DVinci, a company that offers training in SketchUp and other application tutorials to beginners and professionals and everyone in between. Roskes is a professional structural engineer who loves teaching others how to use great modeling applications. Her “Google SketchUp Cookbook” was a Graphic Design Amazon Bestseller in 2009. In The Beginning 3DVinci was an innovation born out of necessity. “I wrote the first tutorial for SketchUp in 2001, when SketchUp wasn’t at all mainstream. There were no other tutorials on the market, and people needed guidance on how to use the software. In 2006, when Google bought SketchUp, there was a free version that [Read more…]

Afinia H-Series-printed models are featured in the just-released project book Modeling in SketchUp for 3D Printing, by Bonnie Roskes. Bonnie Roskes of 3DVinci has been writing SketchUp project books and producing YouTube tutorials for over 12 years. She has recently turned her attention to using SketchUp to create models for 3D printing. Bonnie says, “The 3D printing seed was planted when several teachers approached me about writing a project book on this topic. Schools are funding STEM, and 3D printers are finding their way to more and more classrooms.” “Teachers with 3D printers often wonder how to get started and what to make. My book opens by discussing printer types, [Read more…]

Students get an edge with 3D printer packages designed for Next Generation Science Standards Afinia teams with Pitsco to offer affordable 3D printing education Rapid prototyping is all the rage as 3D printers pop up in companies and schools everywhere, but teaching about it has been a go-it-alone journey. Until now. 3D printing, which creates three-dimensional objects by laying down successive layers of material, is becoming widespread in engineering and manufacturing for rapid prototyping and production. Considering this, giving students an opportunity to understand the technology is important for the future of industry. So Afinia, a supplier of desktop 3D printers, teamed with Pitsco Education, a provider of STEM learning [Read more…]

Happy Time Lapse Thursday! We thought an educational video would be timely and appropriate for today’s Time Lapse Thursday. This was the second time we printed the Continental United States by anewsome, and it seemed to work out better the second time. The first file we printed pretty much the way the file loaded on our platform, and we had a hard time separating it from the platform due to it’s fine detail, and shallow build area. The second time we printed it, we bumped up the Z resolution to make it a bit taller. This alteration added more stability, and mass to the print; resulting in a better looking [Read more…]

Welcome to our new weekly video series – Time Lapse Thursday! For our first video we thought we’d start out with something quick and fun to print. we found a Jigsaw Cube design created by TheSeend, and we realized it was a great place to start. The set up was quite easy, and It only took a few hours to print. I recommend this print for anyone that might be new to 3D printing, it’s a great file to try different printing techniques. Check out the video here: Time Lapse Thursday – JigSawCube Print Details Z Layer Resolution: 0.15mm Fill: Big Hole Material: ABS Quality: Fast No Raft Final Print [Read more…]

Thank you for your support of our teacher, students and school. The Target Range school community is fortunate to have innovative educators that bring practical experiences to our students. The 3D printer that you have supplied has increased our ability even more. Thank you very much. Partnerships are positive for education and I look forward to continuing our partnership with you. [Read more…]

by Aaron H. Pratt, VP Marketing – Microboards Technology/Afinia Almost exactly one year ago, we made the decision to enter the fray of 3D printing. What we saw then, and what we see now, was a disruptive technology, positioned to change business, that was beginning to make its way into the desktop market. Technologically speaking, we knew we were a late entrant. 3D printing, sometimes called Additive manufacturing, had been around for 30 years in one form or another. But marketwise, we saw a window of opportunity. Suddenly, garage tinkerers and back-room hobbyists were beginning to produce a product that met the economic requirements and piqued the interest of a [Read more…]